Integrated circuits are known to include one or more die mounted in a package (e.g., a standard package, surface mount package, ball grid array package, flip-chip package, et cetera). Each die includes a plurality of bonding-pads that are coupled, via bonding wires, to bond posts of the package to provide external connectivity to the die or dies. Bonding wires are typically short (e.g., less than 1 centimeter), thin (e.g., less than 30 gage wire), and constructed of aluminum and/or gold to have a small impedance (e.g., less than 0.5 Ohm and 2–20 nano Henries). Thus, for most applications, a bond wire has negligible affects on signals inputted to and/or outputted from the die.
As the frequencies of signals increase, the impedance of a bond wire becomes an issue. For example, at 5 gigahertz, the impedance of a bond wire may be approximately 157 OHMS to 628 OHMS (impedance=2πfL). For RF transceivers, such a large bond wire impedance makes impedance matching of an antenna via an impedance transformation circuit very difficult.
Therefore, a need exists for a low impedance bonding technique for use in high frequency applications.